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Signing an arms reduction treaty with Russia is akin to meeting your wary mother-in-law for lunch: it's a good sign and a modest accomplishment, but not really all that hard. Because it happens periodically without much other progress, it is not much to build upon. A unified strategy against Islamic terrorism would surely be more valuable, and telling.

Despite some recent progress, Russia remains balanced on an economic and political edge that is far more fundamental and precarious than that of the U.S. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has little to lose as he tries to prove that he matters in Russia, but President Barack Obama must be careful in trumpeting any new international initiative except perhaps an improved trade policy with China.

Health care is already seen by most Americans as a vain distraction from more pressing economic problems. While foreign policy success is usually a life preserver for presidents struggling to stay afloat at home, right now it is probably more like a lead weight.

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